Hate to be a Grinch at this time of year, but it’s hard not to notice the race to the bottom that’s going on in the NBA right now. Take the three worst teams in the league, add together their current losing streaks and you get this unsightly number: 33.

Here it is Christmas, and the Bobcats have not won since they were 7-5, two days after Thanksgiving. That is a losing streak of 15 straight games, and it includes a heartbreaker (101-100) against the Lakers last week to kick off their Western swing. The Bobcats were in that one, and that was an encouraging sign, but they lost their next three by an average of 18.0 points.

Thing is, even with that losing streak, you can’t put the Bobcats on the bottom of the league rankings, because two teams—the Hornets and Wizards—have been even more awful this year. New Orleans is 5-22, and is now on an 11-game losing streak. Washington had an epically bad start, losing 12 straight to start the year before showing some signs of life with three wins in a six-game span. But it’s back to the skids for the Wizards now, as they’ve lost seven straight, including a 32-point loss to the Pistons.

You read that right: 32-point loss. To the Pistons.

“Losing is one of the hardest things you can ever go through, especially losing as many as we've lost,” said Charlotte’s Kemba Walker, whose team set the league mark for futility last year. “At the same time, you've got to keep your chin up. You've got to know that these losses will turn into wins one day.”

That day is probably not coming in the next four months, however, not for the bottom three in this poll:

1. Oklahoma City Thunder. They're easy to overlook when you have Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, but two guys having career years with the Thunder are Thabo Sefolosha and Serge Ibaka.

2. Miami Heat. As if they needed more help, the Heat have collectively gotten their perimeter shooting together—they’re making an average of 41.1 percent of their 3-pointers.

3. Los Angeles Clippers. I would have expected that any type of Clippers resurgence would rely heavily on Chauncey Billups, Grant Hill and Lamar Odom. But Billups has played three games, Hill none and Odom is shooting 37.1 percent.

4. New York Knicks. Pablo Prigioni may be 35, but he has shot the ball well and the 13.4 minutes per game he has given the team with Iman Shumpert injured have been very valuable.

5. San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs had been without Kawhi Leonard since mid-November, but got him back last week. He scored 17 points and had five steals on Sunday.

6. Memphis Grizzlies. For the Grizzlies, the road has been a problem area—they’re 2-4 in their last six games away from home. The two games they have this week, though, will be at FedEx Forum.

7. Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks have surprised to this point, and are in position to keep it up—their next 11 foes have a combined winning percentage of .359 and seven of those teams are slated for the lottery.

8. Golden State Warriors. They’re pushing for David Lee as an All-Star in the Bay Area, and with 20.0 points, 11.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 53.9 percent shooting, it is hard to argue.

9. Indiana Pacers. In the last 10 games, with averages of 19.4 points, 8.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists, we’re seeing the player we all thought Paul George could be.

10. Chicago Bulls. Obviously, Marco Bellinelli is an adventure when it comes to defense. But, offensively, he is giving the Bulls 9.6 points per game and shooting 40.9 percent from the 3-point arc in only 24.2 minutes.

12. Houston Rockets. In James Harden’s last six games, he has averaged 30.0 points on 50.5 percent shooting. Amazingly, he went to the line an average of 13.0 times in those games, making 91.0 percent.

13. Denver Nuggets. They are 8-1 at home, with an average margin of 10.2 points per game. That bodes well if, in fact, they ever get to play home games.

14. Milwaukee Bucks. Seeing as he is only making 20.9 percent of them, guard Monta Ellis should probably think twice before launching 3-pointers.

15. Brooklyn Nets. And you thought last year was rough? Power forward Kris Humphries got a DNP-CD in Sunday’s win over the Sixers—and he was completely healthy.

16. Utah Jazz. Mo Williams had played pretty well at the point this year, but hurt his thumb on Saturday. He’ll be out indefinitely, and that could be a big blow.

17. Boston Celtics. They’re starting Jason Collins. The good news is that his teams have gone 24-16 in games he started in the last three years. The bad news is he wears No. 98.

18. Los Angeles Lakers. Steve Nash and Pau Gasol are back, and the Lakers have managed four straight wins. The Christmas clash with the Knicks is a chance to show that all is not lost for the purple-and-gold this year.

19. Portland Blazers. Watching J.J. Hickson average 12.6 points and 11.0 rebounds makes it that much harder to figure out why his career took such a wrong turn last year.

20. Philadelphia 76ers. The Sixers have hung around .500 all year, but take a look ahead and you’ve got to figure that is about to change—a seven-game Western trip that includes the Grizzlies, Warriors, Lakers, Thunder and Spurs.

21. Orlando Magic. Being around .500 in December made the Magic a nice story, but with Glen Davis out four-to-six weeks because of a shoulder injury, the nice story figures to get ugly.

22. Dallas Mavericks. Dirk Nowitzki returned just in time to be clearly shown how much this team needs some work. The Spurs beat them by 38 points on Sunday.

23. Phoenix Suns. Trouble is a-brewing in Phoenix—following their loss to the Clippers, their next four opponents have a combined record of 75-31.

24. Toronto Raptors. This bunch had lost 12 out of 13 games before, surprisingly, ripping off five straight wins for the first time in nearly three years. This could be just a coincidence, but there is only one clear difference between both streaks—star Andrea Bargnani has missed the last six games.

25. Sacramento Kings. It is pretty clear by now that the Kings are better off without DeMarcus Cousins than they are with him. Cousins’ third suspension of the season should convince the Sacromento leadership that it’s time to just cut him.

26. Detroit Pistons. Andre Drummond is showing some of the potential scouts thought he had when he came out for last year’s draft. But that 40.0 percent free-throw shooting is a problem.

27. Cleveland Cavaliers. Anderson Varejao is having a career year, but he is 0-for-5 from the 3-point line, bringing him to just 1-for-32 in his career. He should probably avoid shooting from behind the arc altogether.

28. Charlotte Bobcats. In two seasons, one of which was lockout-shortened, Kemba Walker has lost 50 more games than he did in three years at Connecticut.

29. New Orleans Hornets. If you were hoping that Anthony Davis’ return might be enough to lift the Hornets out of the abyss, the reality is, they’re 2-12 when he plays.

30. Washington Wizards. If Bradley Beal really is the next Ray Allen, someone will have to remind me when Ray Allen averaged 12.5 points on 36.1 percent shooting (29.0 percent from the 3-point line).